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Backup Restoration

We take two daily backups of every server that is hosted with us to protect against data loss and hardware failure. However, due to the quantity of backups we take and the security required for storing backups of user data, it can take up to 48 hours for a backup to restored when submitted through a backup ticket. So we highly recommend using another backup method in addition to our 12-hour backups for when you need to perform a quick restore.

Spigot Servers & DriveBackupV2

If you're using a Spigot based Minecraft server, you can use DriveBackupV2 to take your own backups!

Restoring from a Personal Backup

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Whatever backup method you use for your personal backups, you should store them as an archive file such as a .zip or .tar file type. That file will contain whatever files have been backed up from your server and is what we'll be using.

Getting the Files you need

You'll want to download the backup archive to your personal computer and decompress it in order to verify what's contained within your backup and select what you need to restore. You should include only the files and folders you need to restore in your backup. This may take some trial and error, but that's one of the many reasons why you should backup your live server before you restore your backup.

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Check out our page on Folder Compression/Decompression if you need help on how to compress/decompress your backup!

Uploading your Files

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Before moving on to this step you need to turn your server off! Modifying your server files should never be done while it’s online!
Make sure that your server is off before proceeding!

After you've selected and compressed the files you need to restore to your server, you should take a backup of your live server to prevent any accidental data loss. After you've taken the backup, you can upload the archive via SFTP or the Game Panel depending on the size. Once uploaded, you can decompress the archive using the Game Panel and then start your server and make sure everything works as expected. Follow the steps below to Upload and Decompress your Archive.

danger

We can not stress this enough. Always take a backup before moving on to the next step.
No backup method is perfect and you should always take a backup before deleting the most recent server data!

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Using SFTP

Check out our page on Using SFTP if you aren't sure how to use it! This is the preferred method for uploading archives, so give it a shot!

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Using the Game Panel

If your archive is under 100mb, you can use the Game Panel, if you aren't sure how to do that, check out our page on Game Control Panel - The Basics.

decompression

After uploading your archive through either method, you'll need to decompress it through the Game Panel. You can read the Game Control Panel - The Basics for information on how to do that!

Restoring from a WinterNode Backup

WinterNode GCP content

We take internal 12-hour backups at 2AM and 2PM CST time without Client Intervention, to our company-owned server. This automated system runs outside the "Backups" system displayed in our panel. The "Backups" tab in Game Control Panel is not active, as our backup system has been built independently of it.

To request a restoration from our 12-hour backups, please open a Support ticket with us on Discord or fill out the below template and open a ticket on the Client Panel. This will then be forwarded to our Backup Manager. We aim to complete the restoration process within less than 48 hours, however, this is not always possible. Customers who desire faster access to and/or more control over their backups are encouraged to take their own external backups, see the relevant articles below.

CoreProtectDriveBackupV2
MySQL

MySQL Backups are not currently retained.

File size limit

Files over 5GB in size are not included in our automatic backups. This most often affects SQLite databases generated by plugins like CoreProtect and BlueMap.

Requesting a Backup

Requesting a backup via Discord

The easiest method to request a backup is to use our Discord Bot in a support ticket on our Discord. Follow the steps below to open a ticket and request your backup.

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If you aren't already in the discord you can join with this link. Once there make sure you get the client role by following the steps on the Claim Discord Client Role page.

Opening a Ticket

Now that you have the client role and you're in the server, start by opening a ticket in the support channel by clicking on the Support button on the bottom of the channel. That will open a new ticket for you and you'll be mentioned in it as soon as you click on it.

You'll also get a neat little box showing you the name of the ticket that you can click on to get to the ticket.

The Open Ticket message in the WinterNode Discord Support channel with a Support button located on the bottom of the messageLoading...

A Discord message designated as "only visible to you" directing you to your newly created ticketLoading...

Running the command

Once you're in your ticket, you can type /backup in the message box. You should get the command suggested like you see in the images below.

A conversation in a WinterNode support ticket directing the user to use the /backup command and the chat box partially filled with the comand with Discord autocompleting the remainder of /backupLoading...

The WinterNode Discord Bot responding to the use of the /backup command with "WinterNode is thinking..."Loading...

Selecting your Server

After sending the command the WinterNode bot will send a Backup Request embed that will require you to select the options needed for your backup to be restored. The first one, shown in the images below, are which server you need the backup for.

Just use the drop down menu to select which server you want and click next.

The WinterNode bot displaying a Backup Request form on the Server Selection step. The bottom of the form is a drop down field and below that are 3 buttons, cancel, back, and next, with the back button greyed out.Loading...

The WinterNode bot's Backup Request form but with the Server Selection dropdown open to display a list of blurred out server UUID'sLoading...

Selecting the backup date

After you've requested what server you want the backup of, you'll be presented with a list of dates and times that we have backups for. The backups are made daily at 2AM and 2PM CST and will reflect that time in the list.

Just select the one that's most likely to have the data that you need and click next. Use this link to get the offset between you and Central Standard Time. The WinterNode Bot's backup request form with the Date Dropdown open to display a list of recent datesLoading...

Completing the request

After answering all of the questions in the embed you'll be greeted with a summary of the options you've entered and the chance to edit them. If everything looks good then you can select finish and one of our team members will complete the request soon!
The WinterNode bot's Backup Request form showing that the backup form is complete and with 4 sets of buttons on the bottom showing the data that was entered in the form with paired edit buttons on the right and the final set being a cancel and submit button.Loading...

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If you're unable to use Discord or our Discord Bot for any reason or you'd like to make your request through the client area instead, please use the method below.

Requesting a backup via Form

You can also request a backup by filling out the form below and sending it either in a Discord or Client Panel ticket. You'll find explanations of each question below the form.

Node: [Example: CHI1]
- (Found in the Homepage of the Server List)
Server UUID: [Example: 46921aec]
- (Found in the Homepage or Panel URL)
Date: [Example: March 31st 2AM CST]
- (The date (up to 7 days) and time (2AM or 2PM CST) of the backup you want)
Node

You'll need to provide the node that the server you need a backup of is part of. You can find your servers node by looking at it on your server list as seen in the image below. The node of a server listed in the GCP Server List, located in the right center of the entryLoading...

UUID

You'll need to provide the node that the server you need a backup of is part of. You can find your servers node by looking at it on your server list as seen in the image below. The UUID of a server a server listed in the GCP Server list, located on the top right of the entryLoading...

Date

Our backups are taken every 12 hours at 2am and 4am Central Standard Time, so you'll need to provide a date and time that is most likely to have the data that you need. You can use this link to see what time it is in the Central Standard Time time zone so that you can work back to when you need your backup.

Locating your Backup Files

After your backup request has been handled by our team you'll be able to access them in the file manager under the /backup-restore directory. There you'll find the backed up version of your server files. These will have their modification timestamps preserved by the backup and consist of the entirety of your server at the time of the backup you requested.

Moving your Files to where they should be

danger

Before moving on to this step you need to turn your server OFF! Modifying your server files should NEVER be done while it’s online!
Make sure that your server is off before proceeding!

After you've received confirmation that your backup has been restored and you've located them, you'll need to move the restored files to their correct location. But before you do that you should absolutely make another backup of the files currently on your server that you're going to replace.

As an example, if you're restoring a backup of your world folder you should backup the "broken" world folder by creating a compressed version before moving on. This ensures that you don't lose anything that wasn't properly saved in the backup. While this may not make much sense, I promise it's worth the extra bit of effort for the odd chance you make a mistake or something goes wrong. After you've made sure that everything is correct, you can delete the temporary backup of your "broken" files.

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If you aren't sure how to compress a folder on the Game Panel, check out the section on compressing files in out Control Panel article!

TAKE A BACKUP!

We can not stress this enough. _ Always take a backup before moving on to the next step._ No backup method is perfect and you should always take a backup before deleting the most recent server data!

Removing the old Files

Now that you've taken a backup you can remove the files you need to replace by selecting the in the File Manager and clicking delete. You can do this by either selecting them in bulk using the check boxes on the left and then using the Mass Actions option on the sidebar or by clicking the 3 dots on the right side of the item and selecting delete there. Just be very careful what you select for deletion as this can't be reversed.

Moving the Restored Files

Now that you have the old "broken" files removed from your live files, you'll want to move the backup files over so they can be used by your server. You can do this by using the 3 dots next to each file or folder and selecting Move, as depicted in image 1, and then typing in the new path for the file.

The context menu of an individual file on the GCP File Manager with the Rename/Move option highlightedLoading...

caution

The new path includes the file/folder name! So when moving the world folder from backup-restore/world to your servers root, you'd type world!

Reach Out!

Have Questions? Need Help? Feel free to reach out!

Join our Discord